Father Antonios Papanikolaou and his wife have been terminated as directors of an NGO for vulnerable children and mothers named Kivotos tou Kosmou (World’s Ark) after serious allegations of widespread sexual and physical abuse.

The decision for their dismissal was made after a meeting held on Monday morning at the Maximos Palace and was announced by the government representative Giannis Oikonomou after the disclosure by the Proto THEMA of the testimony of the 19-year-old who “exposed” the organisation’s founder.

As he said at the meeting, it was decided to immediately replace the administration of the World Ark . This decision was taken, as explained by Mr. Oikonomou, thanks to a provision passed by the New Democracy government in the summer of 2022 and which allows for such actiony.

In addition to Father Antonios, the Ark is managed by a 7-member Board of Directors, headed by his wife Stamatia Georgantis.

The government representative spoke of serious complaints about a sensitive issue such as children, stressing that “a full investigation of the complaints by the authorities is needed, there is no need for indifference nor obstruction”. “ELAS is assisting in the investigation and as long as there are criminal acts, the culprits will be brought to justice without discrimination” emphasised Oikonomou.

The developments regarding the involvement of priest Father Antonios Papanikolaou, the head of the “Ark of the World” have prompted the Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, Ieronymos II of Athens to order “an ecclesiastical investigation, following eponymous complaints before the competent authorities, against the cleric of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens Fr. Antonios Papanikolaou, to whom I ordered, with my decision, the prohibition of sacrificial acts until the trial of the case”.